Bridget Anne Kelly speaks to the media after she was sentenced to 18 months for her role in Bridgegate. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear her appeal. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Critchley is likely to file a request asking the court to delay the start of Kelly’s prison term, currently scheduled for July 10, to allow her to remain free until the Supreme Court makes a final ruling in her case.

Federal prosecutors incorrectly used criminal fraud statutes to say routine political behavior was a crime, Kelly’s attorneys argued in their court filings asking the Supreme Court to consider an appeal.

“If there is one thing this country does not need right now, it is a rule of law allowing a public official to be locked up based on a jury determination that she ‘lied’ by purporting to act in the public interest or by concealing her ‘political’ purposes,” Kelly’s attorneys wrote.

The U.S. Supreme Court met last week to decide whether Kelly’s case would move forward. It announced its decision Friday without explanation.

Neither the U.S. Attorney’s office nor Christie has commented on the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal.

Kelly was found guilty in November 2016 along with with Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Baroni joined Kelly in the Supreme Court appeal. However, he is already serving his 18-month prison sentence at the Loretto Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania.